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After over a week of polling the members and visitors of Rapgenius, I was able to compile what the general populace considered the best songs of the last year.

The top 100 songs of 2011 was decided by all members of the community. People in the threads were convinced that the top 25 songs weren’t legitimate. THEY ARE. Remember, everyone had equal say, even the people who voted for nauseating songs like “How to Love” or “Roll Up”.
#bythepeopleforthepeople

Listen to the Top 100 on Spotify

Finally, this isn’t my top 100 of the last year, but I agree with this list for the most part. So let the countdown begin…

100-26

100 “Shine On” — Logic
99. “Double M Genius” — Wale
98. “Peso” — A$ap Rocky
97. “Lyrical Noir” — Canibus
96.“Dreams Money Can Buy” — Drake
95. “Grove St. Party” featuring Kebo Gotti — Waka Flocka Flame
94.“Radio” — Yelawolf
93. “Joaquin Phoenix” featuring Little Ronnie — Lupe Fiasco
92. “Ain’t Hard to Tell” — Elzhi
91. “Douchebag” — Skizzy Mars
90.“R4 Theme Song” — Big K.R.I.T.
89.“Dollar And A Dream III” — J. Cole
88. “Power” featuring Danny Brown and Despot — Das Racist

87.“Hol' Up” — Kendrick Lamar
86.“Made in America” — Jay-Z and Kanye West
85. “Armor of God” — Vakill
84.“Posted” — Pac Div
83.“Born in the Trap” — Game
82.“Late For The Sky” featuring Slug and Aesop Rock — Evidence
81.“Bring Me Down” — Saigon
80.“My God” — Pusha T
79.“Michael Jackson” — Das Racist
78.“Tower Heist” featuring Rick Ross — Nas
77.“Gucci Gucci” — Kreayshawn

76.“Dance (Ass) (Remix)” featuring Nicki Minaj — Big Sean
75.“SLR (Super Lupe Rap)” — Lupe Fiasco
74.“I Still Wanna” featuring Rick Ross — Pusha T
73.“Underground Kings” — Drake
72.“My Last” featuring Chris Brown — Big Sean
71.“John” featuring Rick Ross — Lil Wayne
70.“Golden” — Tyler, the Creator
69.“Amen” featuring Kanye West and Young Jeezy — Pusha T
68.“A.D.H.D” — Kendrick Lamar
67.“Ricky” — Game
66.“Burning The Mirror” — Jedi Mind Tricks
65.“Look At Me Now” featuring Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne — Chris Brown
64.“The Vent” — Big K.R.I.T.
63.“Strange Clouds” featuring Lil Wayne — B.o.B

62.“Lighters” featuring Bruno Mars — Bad Meets Evil
61.“Chordaroy” featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Wolf Haley — Mellowhype
60.“Goonies” featuring Diabolic — Immortal Technique
59.“Cocoa Butter” featuring Nina Sky — Action Bronson and Statik Selektah
58.“Sweet” — Common
57.“Bonfire” — Childish Gambino
56.“The Show Goes On” — Lupe Fiasco
55.“Fuck Your Ethnicity” — Kendrick Lamar
54.“Am I a Psycho?” featuring Hopsin and B.o.B — Tech N9ne
53.“100 Keys” featuring Rick Ross and Pusha T — Big Sean
52.“Clap (One Day)” — Pharoahe Monch
51.“More Clouds” featuring Remy Banks — Domo Genesis
50.“Wings” featuring Ryan Lewis — Macklemore

49.“I’m Flexin'” featuring Big K.R.I.T. — T.I.
48.“Mr. Nobody” — Reks
47.“Toast to the Dead” — Immortal Technique
46.“Scottie Pippen” featuring Freddie Gibbs — Curren$y
45.“Dance in the Reign” featuring Sy Smith — Phonte
44.“That Way” featuring Jeremih and Rick Ross — Wale
43.“Ima Boss (Remix)” featuring Rick Ross — Meek Mill
42.“Mr Nice Watch” featuring Jay-Z — J. Cole
41.“Purple Swag” — A$ap Rocky
40.“The Believer” featuring John Legend — Common
39.“Predormitum (Prologue)” — CunninLynguists
38.“The Greatest Story Never Told” — Saigon
37.“Wonton Soup” — Lil B

36.“Loud Noises featuring Slaughterhouse” — Bad Meets Evil
35.“Ill Mind Of Hopsin 4” — Hopsin
34.“She” featuring Frank Ocean — Tyler, the Creator
33.“Harsh” featuring Busta Rhymes and Rick Ross — Styles P
32.“Gotta Have It” — Jay-Z and Kanye West
31.“Another Naive Individual Glorifying Greed & Encouraging Racism” — Big K.R.I.T.
30.“Freaks and Geeks” — Childish Gambino
29.“Play The Game” featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Freddie Gibbs — Statik Selektah
28.“Black Hand Side” featuring Styles P and Phonte — Pharoahe Monch
27.“Tupac Back” featuring Rick Ross — Meek Mill
26.“Otis” — Jay-Z and Kanye West

25-1

25 “Zan With That Lean” — Soulja Boy

Soulja Boy’s best entry to date, and damn is that song catchy. “All these bands on me…”

24 “Marvin & Chardonnay” featuring Roscoe Dash and Kanye West — Big Sean

“The fuckin' anthem” became a hot track during the Summer and had people left and right saying, “Hol' up, Hol' up, Hol' up.”

23 “Hard White (Up in the Club)” featuring Lil Jon — Yelawolf

YEAH!! Lil Jon and Yela teamed up for a win-win situation on this Radioactive track and the number 23 song of the year.

22 “Don’t Hold Your Applause” — Wale

Wale is arguably “man of the year” as he claims with the number 22 song of 2011.

21 “Headlines” — Drake

Wale also mentioned Drake as a contender for “man of the year,” and this radio-friendly rap song helped Drake make our list for song of the year.

20 “Memory Lane” — Elzhi

Detroit rapper Elzhi’s take on Nas' Illmatic turned out to be one of the best mixtapes of 2011, and “Memory Lane” proves this.

19 “Marvin’s Room” — Drake

Despite being a handful of bars away from a straight up R&B song, Drake’s drunk-dialing record that spawned a million spinoffs is without a doubt one of the best tracks of 2011.

18 “He’s A Mental Giant” — Tech N9ne

With arguably one of the best flows ever, and a one of the top albums this past year, Tecca Ninna brings the thunder on the number 18 song of 2011.

17 “I’m On One” featuring Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne — DJ Khaled

Even though you couldn’t escape the sound of caring only about “money and the city that I’m from,” DJ Khaled put together a great song with three of the biggest icons in the game for one of the year’s standout tracks.

16 “You See Me” — Childish Gambino

Quadruple-threat Donald Glover (actor/comedian/writer/rapper) released his debut EP Camp, and had fans reciting, “Asian girls everywhere: UCLA,” with our number 16 song of the year.

15 “Trouble on My Mind” featuring Tyler, the Creator — Pusha T

“Trouble On My Mind” is one of the most fun tracks this year and Pusha’s collab with Odd Future’s Tyler, the Creator had listeners everywhere pushing it to number 15.

14 “Lord Knows” featuring Rick Ross — Drake

Bigghost described this Just Blaze production as top beat of the year. Drake goes in for over 40 bars and Rick kills his guest verse, as usual, leaving very little to dislike about “Lord Knows.”

13 “Blue Sky” — Common

Common’s newest album, The Dreamer, The Believer, is going to be huge, and its lead single showed that Common still has some of the best talent as a vet in the game. Also, No I.D. has been on a hot streak, lately.

12 “Lost Ones” — J. Cole

Cole World was met with mixed reviews, but J. Cole’s deep song dedicated to a man and a woman’s views on abortion carries a strong message and puts it at number 12 on our list.

11 “All Black Everything” — Lupe Fiasco

Despite the dissapointing album that Lasers ultimately was, “All Black Everything” is a tremendous track that makes the listener think about the repercussions of slavery while Lupe raps in the style most of us love him for.

10 “Keisha’s Song (Her Pain)” featuring Ashtro Bot — Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar’s gripping storytelling track about a young woman who finds a reluctant lifestyle in prostitution cracks the top 10.

9 “Murder to Excellence” — Jay-Z and Kanye West

Probably the second-best track off of Watch the Throne, “Murder to Excellence” combines the everyday troubles facing black males in urban areas with the “black excellence” that Jay and Ye emulate. Easily a top song of 2011.

8 “Make My” featuring Big K.R.I.T. — The Roots

Big K.R.I.T.’s verse is excellent; the smooth, heavy beat is excellent; Undun was excellent; it’s easy to consider the best track from Undun as top song of the year.

7 “Rigamortus” — Kendrick Lamar

The horn-driven beat allows KDot to do his thing, flowing like crazy on the third verse with a lyrical assault. That’s enough reason to put this as our number 7 song of the year.

6 “Fast Lane” featuring – Bad Meets Evil

Eminem’s first post-Recovery project included him teaming up with freshly re-friended rapper Royce Da 5'9", and their first single, “Fast Line,” earns the number 6 spot.

5 “Ghetto Dreams” featuring Nas — Common

A song that seemingly took both Nas and Common back to 1997 is our number 5 song of the year. The two plan on releasing a collaborative album later in 2012.

4 “HiiiPower” — Kendrick Lamar

I know what you’re thinking. “Damn, Kendrick has three top 10 songs? Really?” Really. 2011 was Kendrick’s break out year and “HiiiPower” was his best outing. Besides, the Compton native gets a lot of shine on Rapgenius. Sometimes a little too much.

3 “Yonkers” — Tyler, the Creator

Either you hate what Tyler does, or you love it. But you can’t deny the over-analyzed, contradictive “Yonkers” as one of the best songs of the year. I especially loved it before it got played out by every mainstream fan of his.

2 “Niggas in Paris” — Jay-Z and Kanye West

Before it was being played 5 times in a row at shows and on rap radio everywhere, the best song from Watch the Throne started the biggest meme-a-thon of the year and had people quoting Blades of Glory and chanting “That shit cray!” Many thought that it would take the top spot on our list..

HOWEVER…

1 “Nasty” — Nas

…Nasty Nas himself is king of this list. His return was met with much acclaim. Die hard fans loved it and Nas made himself relevant again after a few so-so solo releases. If it’s any indication, QB’s finest is back to take the reigns as the best rapper in the game. So get some Remy Martin, some good ass cigars, and prepare yourself for what could be another Nas classic.